The JVC KY-PZ200 and KY-PZ400 PTZ cameras, and the RM-LP100U remote camera controller have received the Church Production Road Tested Certification.
Truly broadcast-quality PTZ cameras just didn't exist until very recently and the many ways churches can use them now are ever changing. Freedom House Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a rather large multi-site church with high production values. The church’s three campuses all have a live teaching team and Freedom House is creating a lot of video content during the week to support their ministries. As part of Church Production’s Road Test Experience, JVC sent Freedom House some JVC KY-PZ400 and KY-PZ200 PTZ cameras to test drive.
...the way they're deployed is allowing one person to do an entire TV studio shoot...
Brad Christian, who is production director at the church, says the experience was positive from the start. “I had grown up using some older models of PTZ cameras years ago, and I was concerned about how complex it would be to get the cameras hooked up and using the special pin cable and things like that,” Christian explains. “But when I opened it up, it was a super simple experience. The capability and the flexibility of them, with the HDMI or SDI out, made integration into our system super simple.”
The JVC KY-PZ400 supports up to a 4K resolution and a 12X optical zoom for churches looking to future-proof, while the KY-PZ200 supports 1080p with a 20X optical zoom. Freedom House Church’s team wanted to bring the cameras in to be used on a new studio project they’re working on, which Christian says requires them to operate with an even smaller crew than during the weekends.
“... the KY-PZ400 and its new connectivity options, that is a game changer for even modern churches and especially multi-site churches." - Brad Christian, Production Director, Freedom House Church
“We are in kind of a TV studio-type environment and on a set. And the way they're deployed is allowing one person to do an entire TV studio shoot with these cameras in a living room-type environment, which is very helpful to us with our very lean team being able to have these cameras operating in that studio without having to use multiple camera operators and do things that really are unrealistic during the week with our skeleton crew and lean teams creating this content.”
Freedom House Church has also been using the RM-LP100U from JVC, which is a remote-control camera controller, a zoom rocker, a joystick, a focus dial with a push-to-auto function, and can even be controlled over IP with up to 100 cameras.
“The controller was really impressive out of the box because it had a very large monitor, a lot of very tactile camera controls, a lot of different options in terms of how you could lay out your screen and very easy touch operation with a two-handed zoom and tilt pan tilt option with it,” Christian enthuses. “But at the same time, it was also very simple, very out of the box working in terms of just a few settings to press to get cameras talking to each other and picking options was super simple and very impressive right out of the box.”
Christian says PTZ camera systems are often thought of as best fitting a traditional sanctuary environment – but the Freedom House team been so impressed with how they’ve performed in the studio that they’re talking with the JVC team about expansion possibilities for the church and how they could use them in the future for remote-control video over IP in support of their modern, remote campuses that don't have a camera operator or a video team present at the campus.
“With what's being offered now with the KY-PZ400 and its new connectivity options, that is a game changer for even modern churches and especially multi-site churches. We want to be able to capture the messages and things that are taught at our secondary non-video venues with smaller campuses, smaller volunteer teams, but the whole world of PTZ cameras could be a resource that would allow us to tell the stories, the messages, and the worship experiences at the smaller campuses on a more local level,” Christian concludes.
